More and more folks are discovering Ryder Carroll’s Bullet Journal system, which gives a lot of freedom in a notebook style. Some, like me, have taken this system and freedom and essentially make it work for us week to week, day by day. This easily heads down the road of hand-lettering, where people want to add some flair to their headers or collection titles.

I’ve only taken a class or two on lettering – but my mom taught me about letters a long time ago and I’ve played around with it my whole life very casually. I’ve only been practicing seriously since May once I jumped into the rabbithole of Instagram, watching a few tutorials, practicing some drills, reading blogs and books… And through months of diligent practice, I’ve learned a thing or two. So I’ll offer a few of my own thoughts, then links to some other really awesome lettering teachers in the web space.

To start, here are some of my basics:

Note: * Some of these links may be affiliate links. In plain English, this means that I may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you subscribe or purchase something through the links provided. You will never see me post a link to a product or service that I haven’t used myself and love! (Learn more here)

Handlettering and Calligraphy

When you get started lettering, there are so many styles of lettering that I’ll start to cover here and in future blog posts. Firstly, there’s handlettering, faux-calligraphy, brush calligraphy, pointed pen calligraphy, and others.

Handlettering is quite different from calligraphy. You can read more on Chavelli’s blog, but essentially hand lettering is the composition and drawing of letters and words to form a cohesive work. Calligraphy and brush calligraphy, on the other hand, is a stylized writing with a brush or nib. Examples of amazing handlettering artists include Sean McCabe and Dan Lee (truly, amazing). I do some handlettering but won’t speak much to that in this post.

Pointed pen calligraphy is what you’ve gotten to know as the straight or oblique holder and the metal nib, characterized by flowing thick and thin strokes. There are so many different styles you can use – including the more classic styles like Copperplate or Spencerian script, as well as more loose flowing modern styles. I’ll be doing a post and video on this soon!

Today, I’ll talk about fake calligraphy and brush calligraphy.

Cursive and Faux Calligraphy

If you can write in cursive or some form of joined-up handwriting, you can fake calligraphy. If you need to brush up on your cursive skills, start with these tutorials and worksheets to get familiar with the entry and exit strokes and the anatomy of those letters. From there, you can fake calligraphy.

For basic faux calligraphy I seriously don’t have anything super fancy. Here are some of the things I use:

I am getting into pointed pen calligraphy, which involves some more supplies, but I’ll save that for another day!

With these supplies, here’s how you can create fake calligraphy.

Faking calligraphy is easy, relaxing, and you don’t need anything special to do it // @prettyprintsandpaper

I tried to show the progression of what you could do to fake calligraphy with your favorite gel or marker pen. First you write in a script or regular cursive, then start thickening the line whenever you would go DOWN. Then you fill it in – voila!

This is the affordable and VERY versatile option. You can use this technique to liven up everything from your notes to signs to labels with everything from pencil to pen to markers to paintbrushes.

Brush Calligraphy

From there, you may want to try brush calligraphy. I have done a lot of videos of my brush calligraphy on my Instagram (search for “#jchungwrites”) and usually with a brush pen. I tend to like this as a stepping stone to pointed pen calligraphy for a few reasons – it’s lower cost, requires much less special equipment and supplies, and doesn’t require as much work while writing – the pen is inked and ready to go, instead of dipping every few letters. Also, warning – highly addicting pen-habit MAY form…. not that I would know anything about that.

So where do you start? There are SO MANY PENS…. how to begin? I distinguish between brush pens in several ways:

Stiffness of brush tips

Size of the brush tip

Brush material – aka, is it a real brush with bristles?

In general, stiffer and smaller brush tips are easier to start with because they are easier to maneuver and practice varying your pressure with. The larger and softer the brush, especially with real bristles, the harder it was for me to learn as a beginner.

I usually suggest the following pens for friends that are just learning. FYI: I spelled Fudenosuke wrong, my bad.

Tombow Fudenosuke, hard tip: you will see so much love for this pen – classic black, its firm tip makes it easy to control your pressure for thick and thin strokes and is the perfect size for smaller work. One of my favorite pens for beginners – for better or worse, it only comes in black. I have gotten mine from Jetpens.com, Amazon, and Tombow for about $3-4 USD.

Kuretake Zig CocoIro, extra fine (ink + pen body): this super fine pen has a hard tip that is actually a little less forgiving than the Tombow fude, but can make your thin strokes look INCREDIBLY hairline. You have to get used to varying the pressure on this pen, but once you do, the hairlines are RAZOR thin. Perfect for writing small. There are 9-10 different ink colors in this pen. You can get them at jetpens.com, Amazon, or locally at places like Wet Paint in St. Paul, MN for about $5-$6 USD for the pair.

Pentel Sign/Touch Pen: this is similar to the Tombow Fude and a little softer. I find that you have to really lift to get the thick/thin contrast. A joy to write with because the ink flows smoothly, and comes in a bigger pack of colors. I’ve used these in SO many calligraphy videos. I like these for small to medium sized works. The Black Sign pen is available at Michael’s stores if you want to try it out pretty quickly – but MAKE SURE it’s the brush tip. Not that felt tip business. Jetpens, Amazon, and some local stores will have them for $3-$4. Blick has them online, but not necessarily at their store.

Pilot Petit3: A small but mighty pen. These colors are fun and ‘neon-like’ with a similar tip to the Pentel Sign. The water-like ink seems to flow really quickly – the word “juicy” comes to mind. Good for medium and small works. Jetpens and Amazon.

Tombow Dual Brush Pens: these are such beautiful pens, come in a ridiculous 92 color array, and can be used as pens, watercolor, or blended together for effect. As you can see, they are also huge. I have a hard time doing work that’s smaller than a half-page with these, but they fill pages beautifully. These are softer brushes and you need to have good pressure-control to get the thick and thin, so it takes practice. I personally think these are tough for beginners – but are SO MUCH FUN. If you buy them, you should know that they are often on sale. Tombow website, Amazon, and at various local shops like Blick (Minnesota folks, I’ve seen them at Anchor and Wet Paint) for $3.20.

So if you grab a few of these pens, know that it takes work to get used to, and to master the strokes. That is my overall advice – lots of practice. Slow down. It is one of the most meditative and relaxing practices for me.

Lindsey at Postman’s Knock. She breaks down everything into steps and has a huge archive of lettering lessons on her blog. She specializes in pointed pen calligraphy, but lessons are very applicable to brush lettering.

Nina Tran. Another incredible pointed pen artist, she helps run the HandletteredABCs challenge and walks through the Copperplate and Spencerian scripts through breakdowns and drills. She’ll also broadcast live on Periscope and help you learn.

Kei Haniya rounds out some pointed pen suggestions. She offers awesome tips on her Instagram and Periscopes – I could watch her and learn from her all day.

Sharisse at Pieces Calligraphy. She is the brush lettering tutorial queen and has been doing this for a long time. She has informative blog posts on her page, but the real bread and butter for me was following her on Instagram, where she breaks everything down into strokes and helps you with the unsexy but very necessary calligraphy drills to help you hone your craft.

Lefties, check out Lauren at RenmadeCalligraphy – she’s a fantastic lefty-calligrapher who has pulled tips for you

Sean Wes. I consider Sean really advanced in his work, but he looks at the construction of letters on a very precise scale. If you’re interested in making your lettering your business, he’s your guy.

Olivia at Random Olive. She runs the #brushletterpracticechallenge and shares a lot of awesome stuff

Kara at boho.berry has just started offering a practice sheet for lettering for her whimsical style

Kim at tinyrayofsunshine just created her Handwriting Guide if you are looking at how to get your handwriting practice on.

Cindy at Llamas Love Lettering. She uses your everyday pens and shows you how to make magic with them step by step. She has awesome videos on YouTube that walk you through the steps, and has free worksheets on your blog to help you improve your handwriting.

Let me stress to you… nothing will replace the necessity of practice and hard work. No fancy pen, no matter how expensive it is, will magically make your handwriting neater (trust me, I’ve tried it). You have to do the drills, the slow practice, taking the time – it pays off. What you don’t see on these pages (and my own) is the many sheets of practice, the very unsexy drills, the bag full of recycled paper, and mess-ups to get the spacing and lines just right. And for that, I leave you with this:

Happy practice, y’all! Any other places where you learn lettering? Other questions you have? Let me know!

Jessica

This post includes a couple affiliate links – which means if you happen to buy something, I get a small commission at no extra cost to you – these are products I do love and recommend! Thanks in advance for your support!

Advertisements

Share this:

Like this:

Jessica is.a Minnesotan handlettering artist, leadership educator, and bullet journal blogger. She is passionate about working with people to uncover their personal power and potential through connection, creative planning, and calligraphy. You can find her at a local ice cream shop, teaching, on Instagram (@prettyprintsandpaper)

41 Comments

Wow, thanks so much for this! I got a pack of Tombow brush pens for Christmas and was so disappointed out how hard it is to control the up stroke — now I know it’s not just me! Am going to order the Tombow you suggested, sounds like a much better pen to start with! Again, this is a GREAT read … appreciate your sharing and happy new year!

It is SO difficult at first! You’ll really like the Fudensuke as a comparison while you practice and get started. @piecescalligraphy on Instagram is doing a #handletteredABCs challenge where every day or week she focuses on ONE letter at a time for practice. You should check it out!

Love this so much! I absolutely loove the way that Kuretake works! Daiso has some awesome brush pens as well, they differ by colors to indicate the size haha, but so fun to use! Everything at Daiso is $1.50, hopefully there’s one near you!

Thank you! This is such a helpful post as a letter writer I’m wanting to improve my handwriting and start dabbling with some calligraphy but haven’t known where to start when it comes to pens, gonna get a couple and practice, practice, practice! 🙂

[…] Beginning Handlettering – UPDATED post – here I offer a HUGE overview on where to begin, how you can start with lettering and some great starting tools and pens, plus links to some favorite resources and printables […]

[…] in going further with your lettering practice? You might want to check out my posts on how to get started with handlettering (supplies, tips), comparing a few popular brush pens, or how I write in different […]

Nice post. I used to be checking continuously
this blog and I’m impressed! Very helpful info specifically the closing phase 🙂 I maintain such info a lot.
I was seeking this particular information for a long time. Thanks and best of luck.

How do these pens work with regards to bleeding? I just started my first journal and picked up an inexpensive pack of felt tip pens to play with until I decided what I really wanted to do, but they bled through the pages almost immediately. I’m using a sketchbook, so the paper is a little thicker than normal, but not thick enough apparently. I really want to try handlettering and add a little flair to my journal, but I want to make sure any pens I spend money on from here on out will work. Thank you!

Hmm they all really depend on the paper and ink, the brush pens are more inky than like a papermate flair, and some of the felt tip pens are super inky as well. Are you looking for everyday pens or brush pens?

I have a closed FB group called Barefoot Journaling Chronicles and will be sharing your tips. TFS Jessica!

Fantastic lettering lesson! This is one subject that many think you were just born doing! NOT!! I am also a needle artist of 43 years. It still takes time to master anything you wanna do. But well worth the effort when you see your progress. I especially love the quote at the end of your presentation. It’s soo true!

Thank you again Jessica for taking the time to cover this important subject. So many are interested in perfecting their lettering…and I’m no exception.

If you or any of your readers would like to come join us, please do. You’d all be welcome!

[…] Beginning Hand Lettering: Updated – Pretty Prints & Paper – More and more folks are discovering Ryder Carroll’s Bullet Journal system, which gives a lot of freedom in a notebook style. Some, like me, have taken this system … […]

[…] not stop thinking about and her blog was perfect for introductory materials and lessons. Jess at Pretty Prints & Paper had the most beautiful practice sheets and I couldn’t wait to get started. Better yet, she […]